Various processes have been developed to apply coatings to glass containers for different purposes, including glass strengthening for damage prevention and fragment retention. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,522,075 discloses a process for coating a glass container in which the glass container is formed, coated with a layer of metal oxide such as tin oxide, cooled through a lehr, and then coated with an organopolysiloxane resin-based material over the metal oxide layer. In another example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,853,673 discloses a method of strengthening a glass article by, for example, applying to a surface of the article a clear solution of a soluble, further hydrolyzable metallosiloxane, and maintaining the glass article at an elevated temperature sufficiently high to convert the metallosiloxane to a heat-treated polymetallosiloxane gel structure. In a further example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,912,100 discloses a method of making a glass container by heating the glass container and applying a polyurethane powder spray to the glass container.
A general object of the present disclosure, in accordance with one aspect of the disclosure, is to provide an improved method of increasing strength of glass containers.
The present disclosure embodies a number of aspects that can be implemented separately from or in combination with each other.
A method of filling surface imperfections in an exterior glass surface of a glass container in accordance with one aspect of the disclosure includes the steps of (a) applying a solution including an amphiphile, a solvent, a catalyst, and water to the exterior glass surface of the glass container, at an application temperature between 5 and 40 degrees Celsius, such that the solution at least partially fills the surface imperfections to provide a room-temperature-curable cold-end coating on the glass container; and then (b) allowing the solution applied in step (a) to cure on the exterior glass surface of the glass container, at a curing temperature between 5 and 40 degrees Celsius.
In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, there is provided a method of manufacturing including the steps of (a) forming a glass container; (b) annealing the glass container; and then (c) cooling the glass container to not more than 40 degrees Celsius; and then (d) applying to the glass container a solution having a composition including an amphiphile, a solvent, a catalyst, and water, and at an application temperature between 5 and 40 degrees Celsius, to provide a room-temperature-curable cold-end coating on the glass container; and then (e) rinsing the glass container with a liquid including water at a liquid temperature between 5 and 40 degrees Celsius to remove residual solution from the glass container; and then (f) allowing the solution applied in step (d) to cure on the exterior glass surface of the glass container, at a curing temperature between 5 and 40 degrees Celsius.